More than 265,000 fans attended the event, which was conducted November 16-18, 2012, in the brand new $400 million Circuit of The Americas sports and entertainment complex in Austin, Texas.

The 2012 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas has won the coveted “Sports Event of the Year” award at the 2013 SportsBusiness Journal/Daily Business Awards held last week at the New York Marriott Marquis in Manhattan.

More than 265,000 fans attended the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, which was conducted November 16-18, 2012, in the brand new $400 million world-class sports and entertainment complex that opened only days before its first multi-day, international event.

Circuit President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Sexton accepted the award on behalf of the Circuit’s owners and staff and noted the many challenges that were overcome to complete the state-of-the-art facility, assemble a team of professionals to manage and operate the venue, and successfully reintroduce Formula 1 racing, the world’s most popular motorsport, to the United States in a matter of months.

“From the very beginning, there was some doubt whether our project would happen, but we hustled and we had a great team and a great group of owners behind us the whole way,” Sexton noted. “We embarked on a nine-month journey, pulled the construction together, pulled the race off amidst a lot of complicated logistics—and had a great group of fans. I’m really proud of the team that pulled this off.”

Since the start of 2013, the Circuit has successfully conducted three motorsports events—the GRAND-AM of The Americas, the Red Bull MotoGP of The Americas and the V8 Supercars Austin 400—in addition to opening the Austin360 Amphitheater, which recently hosted the world-renowned Dave Matthews Band in the venue’s sixth of 15 concerts booked for its inaugural season.

The Circuit will next host the American Le Mans series in conjunction with the FIA World Endurance Championships Sept. 20-22. The 2013 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix is set for November 15-17.